Many buildings all across the world have a parapet. A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. When extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall. Historically, parapets were originally used to defend buildings from military attack, but today they are primarily used for preventing the spread of fires or for aesthetic reasons. The word parapet comes ultimately from the Italian parapetto (parare=to cover/defend and petto=breast).
Plain parapets are upward extensions of the wall, sometimes with a coping at the top and corbel below. A parapet may be used to hide a sloping roof or installed exhaust equipment. Alternatively, many firewalls are required to have a parapet, a portion of the wall extending above the roof. The parapet is required to be as fire resistant as the lower wall. It is required to extend at least 30 inches above the roof. If the roof slopes at a rate of 2 in 12 or greater (16.7 percent slope), the parapet shall extend to the same width as any portion of the floor within a fire separation distance where protection of wall openings is required, but in no case shall the height be less than 30 inches (762 mm).
Free standing walls are also common structures found throughout the world. A wall may be built as a retaining wall which is usually supporting an amount of land on one side and preventing it from sliding downward. A free standing wall can also be placed along a highway as a sound barrier or to prevent a traffic accident from going beyond the wall or to prevent the accumulation of traffic noise from becoming a nuisance to nearby residences. Whether it is a wall or a parapet, it is often in a location that receives a substantial amount of sun. This area can be optimized for use producing electricity.
Solar panels use light energy (photons) from the sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect (this is the photo-electric effect). A solar panel (photovoltaic module or photovoltaic panel) is a packaged interconnected assembly of solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. The solar panel is used as a component in a larger photovoltaic system to offer electricity for commercial and residential applications. The structural (load carrying) member of a module can either be the top layer (superstrate) or the back layer (substrate). The majority of modules use wafer-based crystalline silicon cells or a thin-film cell based on cadmium telluride or silicon. Crystalline silicon, which is commonly used in the wafer form in photovoltaic (PV) modules, is derived from silicon, a commonly used semi-conductor. Because a single solar panel can only produce a limited amount of power, many installations contain several panels. This is known as a photovoltaic array. A photovoltaic installation typically includes an array of solar panels, an inverter, batteries and interconnection wiring.
Solar panels/arrays are commonly installed on the roof of a residential or commercial property to take advantage of the usable real estate on rooftops. Solar panels are used to generate power for the building they are installed upon and necessarily cover a large amount of surface area to generate enough usable power. Solar panel installation is typically professional installed and is therefore quite labor intensive and expensive.
There are many applications where even a small amount of solar power would be beneficial to provide for landscape lighting, motion sensor lighting, or other general electricity needs which does not require a large and costly solar panel/array installation. Also, there is a need to utilize all the available real estate possible to collect light for solar power whether it is used outside or inside. A parapet or a free standing wall is a common location which can be optimized to produce electricity.
Accordingly, there is a need for an easily installable solar panel to be attached upon a ledge which can be configured to power various electrical needs, such as lighting during the night. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.